Day 3

This morning we woke up to POURING rain!!  The cloud cover was extremely low and we couldn’t see any of the volcano.   Apparently in the Arenal area of Costa Rica it is still the rainy season.   We didn’t care about the rain at all….we threw on our rain gear and off to breakfast we went.    The hotel restaurant is a little bit of a hike from our villa.  Breakfast was fantastic…fresh papaya, pineapple, eggs made to order and as always, fresh mango juice.  After breakfast we got geared up and were picked up by a bus that took us to our next destination….the Rio Balsa.  The Rio Balsa is a large river in Costa Rica near San Isidro….this is where our rafting adventure began.  We were split up into groups and quickly taught the ins and outs of Costa Rican rafting.  We also signed a crazy waiver that said the company is not responsible for “crocodiles, snakes, insects, landslides, falling trees”…pretty much everything that can kill you!  Our guide, Carlos, was amazing and knew every twist and turn to the river.  The beginning was wild and I wasn’t sure if we were all going to stay in the raft.  Jason was up front and swallowed about a gallon of river water…it’s a good thing we got our shots before we leftJ  Halfway down the river we stopped on the shore and the guides cut up fresh fruit for us to eat and we all got rehydrated and ready to roll.  We were drenched by the end of the tour, but I guess that means it was a good trip!!  On the way back to La Fortuna we stopped at a tiny restaurant (a “soda”) to have some lunch.  The lunch was rice and beans, fresh pico de gallo, yuka (a lot like potatoes), fresh vegetables and chicken.  We lounged around the restaurant and had a few beers..the Costa Rican way of life is very mellow and slow…pura vida is their motto.  Pura vida literally means "pure life" but for them it's a way of living.  It means to live simply and be happy...I feel like that's a pretty good motto:)  After lunch we jumped back on the bus and headed back to La Fortuna.  We grabbed a great latte at a local soda and did some shopping.  We caught the last shuttle back to Mountain Paradise Hotel and are getting ready to hop in the pool for a late night swim.  Tomorrow we are off to the Pacific coast bright and early.  We are so excited to see what the next few days have in store for us!